Zaxxon

Template:Nihongo foot is a 1981 scrolling shooter video game developed by Sega with assistance from Ikegami Tsushinki<ref name=":0">Template:Nihongo, Template:Nihongo, Template:Nihongo, 2005, Template:ISBN.</ref><ref name="Akagi" /> and published by Sega for Japanese and European arcades;<ref name=":0" /> it was distributed by Sega/Gremlin in North America. The player pilots a ship through two heavily defended space fortresses, and the outer space areas between them, to confront the Zaxxon robot at the end of the second fortress.

Zaxxon was one of the first games to employ axonometric projection, which lent its name to the game. The type of axonometric projection is isometric projection: this effect simulates three dimensions from a third-person viewpoint. It was also the first arcade game to be advertised on television,<ref>Mark J. P. Wolf (2008), The video game explosion: a history from PONG to Playstation and beyond (Template:Webarchive), p. xviii, ABC-CLIO, Template:ISBN.</ref> with a commercial produced by Paramount Pictures for $150,000.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The game was a critical and commercial success upon release, becoming one of the top five highest-grossing arcade games of 1982 in the United States.

Sega released a modified version as Super Zaxxon the same year and the Zaxxon-like shooter Future Spy in 1984.

Gameplay

File:ARC Zaxxon.png

The Zaxxon robot at the end of the second fortress

The objective of the game is to hit as many targets as possible without being shot down or running out of fuel, which can be replenished by blowing up fuel tanks (300 points).<ref>Zaxxon from the Killer List of Videogames (KLOV)</ref> There are two fortresses to fly through, with an outer space segment between them. At the end of the second fortress is a boss in the form of the Zaxxon robot.

The player's ship casts a shadow to indicate its height.<ref name=Perron>Bernard Perron & Mark J. P. Wolf (2008), Video game theory reader two, p. 158 Template:Webarchive, Taylor & Francis, Template:ISBN</ref> An altimeter is also displayed. In space, there is nothing for the ship to cast a shadow on.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The walls at the entrance and exit of each fortress have openings, and the ship must be at the right altitude to pass through. Within each fortress are additional walls that the ship's shadow and altimeter aid in flying over successfully.

The game is controlled by a four-directional joystick. On arcade cabinets, this is an aircraft-type stick with a molded hand grip. Pushing forward makes the aircraft lower in altitude and pulling back makes it rise. The aircraft cannot move forward or backward; it flies at constant speed. As this sort of control and movement was not common in video games, the arcade cabinets have illustrations around the joystick to indicate the effect of each position on the aircraft.

Ports

Between 1982 and 1985, Zaxxon was ported to the Apple II, Atari 8-bit computers, Atari 2600, Atari 5200, MSX, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Dragon 32, ColecoVision, Intellivision, IBM PC compatibles, SG-1000, TRS-80 Color Computer, and TRS-80.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Atari 2600 and Intellivision ports use a third-person, behind-the-ship perspective instead of the isometric graphics of the other versions.

In 1984, a clone was released for the Acorn BBC Micro series under the title Fortress.

Reception

Commercial

The arcade game was a major commercial success worldwide. In Japan, Template:Ill magazine listed it as the 18th highest-grossing arcade game of 1981,<ref name="GM182">Template:Cite magazine</ref> despite having only a limited release towards the end of the year;<ref name="US"/> it did not appear on the magazine's top 20 annual list for 1982.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> The magazine later listed the game as the eighth top-grossing table arcade cabinet of May 1983.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

The arcade game was a bigger commercial hit in North America, where it reached the top of the monthly US RePlay arcade charts in June 1982.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> The Amusement & Music Operators Association (AMOA) later listed it among the top six highest-grossing arcade games of 1982 in the United States.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

The ColecoVision version was also commercially successful, being Coleco's best-selling non-bundled cartridge for the console up until 1983.<ref name="VGP" /> The home computer ports were commercially successful in North America and Europe. II Computing listed Zaxxon fourth on its list of top Apple II games as of late 1985, based on sales and market-share data.<ref name="ciraolo198510_11">Template:Cite news</ref> On home computers in the United States, Zaxxon received a "Gold Award" from the Software Publishers Association (SPA) in December 1987 for software sales above 100,000 units.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> U.S. Gold's home computer version of Zaxxon was ranked number two on the UK software sales chart in early 1985.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Reviews

The arcade game was well received upon release. David Cohen, in his book Video Games, praised the "incredible three-dimensional realism" in the graphics, which he considered the best in a video game to date, while describing the gameplay as "a mixture of driving and zap game."<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Computer and Video Games praised the game for being "at the frontier of a third dimension in arcade games" and for its "realistic" altitude-based gameplay for the time.<ref name="CVG10">Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Video Games in 1983 called the ColecoVision version of Zaxxon a "coup for this new system".<ref name="wiswell198303">Template:Cite news</ref> Video magazine also praised the ColecoVision version in its "Arcade Alley" column, describing it as "one of the most thrilling games available", and noting in passing that the only "serious criticism" of the arcade original was "many players felt they needed flying lessons to have even a ghost of a chance of performing well".<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>Template:Rp K-Power rated the Color Computer version with 8 points out of 10. The magazine praised its "excellent three-dimensional graphics", and said "Zaxxon is a game that can't be praised enough".<ref name="lentvorski198402">Template:Cite news</ref>

Softline in 1983 called the Atari 8-bit version "a superb three-dimensional computer game ... Not since Choplifter has a game looked so impressive". The magazine also liked the graphics of the Apple II and TRS-80 versions despite those computers' hardware limitations, and predicted that Zaxxon would be a "long-lived bestseller".<ref name="softline19830708">Template:Cite news</ref> In 1984, the magazine's readers named the game the fifth most-popular Apple program, the worst Apple program, and third-worst Atari program of 1983.<ref name="stgame19840304">Template:Cite news</ref> InfoWorld's Essential Guide to Atari Computers cited it as a good Atari arcade game, noting "its distinctive three-dimensional graphics".<ref name="mace1984">Template:Cite book</ref>

Awards

At the 1982 Arkie Awards, the arcade game received a Certificate of Merit as runner-up for Best Science Fiction/Fantasy Coin-Op Game.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> At the 1983 Arcade Awards, the console cartridge conversion received a Certificate of Merit as runner-up for Videogame of the Year.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> At the 1984 Arkie Awards, the dedicated console version was awarded Stand-Alone Game of the Year, while the home computer conversion received a Certificate of Merit as runner-up for Computer Game of the Year.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> In January 1985, Electronic Games magazine included Zaxxon in its Hall of Fame.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> In 1995, Flux magazine ranked the arcade version 51st on its list of the "Top 100 Video Games".<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Legacy

Re-releases

Zaxxon is a bonus game in the Sega Genesis Collection for the PlayStation 2. It is also an unlockable arcade game in Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The arcade version was released on the Wii Virtual Console in Japan on December 15, 2009,<ref name="VC">Template:Cite news</ref> the PAL region on March 5, 2010, and North America on April 12, 2010. In 2022, the original arcade version was included as part of the Sega Astro City Mini V, a vertically oriented variant of the Sega Astro City mini console.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Sequels

An arcade sequel, Super Zaxxon, was released in November 1982.<ref name="Akagi" /> It has a different color scheme, the player's ship flies faster (making the game more difficult), the space segment is replaced with a tunnel, and the enemy at the end of the second fortress is a dragon. It did not do as well as the original. Super Zaxxon topped the US RePlay arcade chart for software conversion kits in July 1983.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> In 1984, Sega released Future Spy with a similar style.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 1987, Zaxxon 3-D was released for the Master System. This console variation makes use of the 3-D glasses add-on. As with the Atari 2600 and Intellivision ports, it is forward-scrolling rather than isometric.

Zaxxon's Motherbase 2000 was released for the 32X in 1995. It is the first Zaxxon game with polygonal graphics. The game bore the Zaxxon brand only in the United States. It was released as Parasquad in Japan and Motherbase in Europe. US gaming critics generally found it was not similar enough to Zaxxon to justify the use of the brand.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Zaxxon Escape was released on October 4, 2012, for iOS and Android devices. It was criticized for having little resemblance to the original.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Popular culture

In 1982, Milton Bradley released a Zaxxon board game.<ref>Zaxxon Template:Webarchive from the Great Game Database (GGDb)</ref><ref>Template:Bgg title</ref>

In 2012, Zaxxon was shown at "The Art of Video Games" exhibition at the Smithsonian.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

External links

• Template:MobyGames
• Template:WoS game